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Title: Bowe Bergdahl, once missing U.S. soldier, charged with desertion
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URL Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/ ... harged-with-desertion/?hpid=z1
Published: Mar 25, 2015
Author: Dan Lamothe
Post Date: 2015-03-25 14:36:55 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 13822
Comments: 86
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. soldier who was recovered in Afghanistan last spring after five years in captivity, faces charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, according to his lawyer. Eugene Fidell, Bergdahl’s attorney, told The Washington Post that his client was handed a charge sheet on Tuesday. Army officials announced they will provide an update in his case at 3:30 p.m. at Fort Bragg, N.C., but declined to discuss new developments ahead of the news conference.
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 69.
#1. To: A K A Stone (#0)
Is this the guy whose parents appeared with the president for some sort of announcement months ago? OH No!
I was going to post a photo of the Bergdahl parents with Obummer and found this nice one from BareNakedIslam.com. I wonder if the Bergdahl parents will stay in hiding or come charging out on a media offensive. This is a blow to Obama on that foolish trade of Bergdahl for the 5 Taliban leaders, who are almost off detention in Qatar and ready to go home to shoot at Americans again. No way this White House didn't try to stop this courtmartial. BNI has some other playful pix.
But not the blow to his ego that Bibi hit him with. In this case The Imam in Chief was fully prepared to take the hit for facilitating this obvious treason. There was NO way of stopping this CM from going down. Besides, it was a GREAT trade for his "side" after all. FIVE terr'ists for one traitor?? We all know Bergdahl will merely be pardoned in 2016, most likely after having served a few months -- if that.
I see as most likely that Bergdahl will plea bargain, plead guilty to one count of something, and accept a Bad Conduct Discharge with forfeiture of pay and allowances, including the pay for his time in captivity. A legal point of contention may be whether he intended to remain away permanently, or was he taking a dump or communing with Gaia when captured, said capture preventing his return from an unauthorized absence.
We shall see. The investigating officer with legal counsel drummed up the article 99. Tells me the government is not leaning towards a plea bargain. Soldiers died looking for this crap bag. His unit from reports are unanimous in saying he fled. He left his unit without authorization and left his weapon behind. He didn't want to be found. If he did he would have taken a piece of equipment where he could be found. Assets were taken off combat operations to look for him endangering more soldiers. I think article 99 is there in the charge sheet for a reason.
I'm sure it is, but I think it is to ensure that Bergdahl will plead guilty as part of a deal to get rid of that charge. I do not think this case will face a trial. It took quite a while for the White House and the military to come up with this charge sheet.
I think the Pentagon controls this and the WH is helpless. If the WH had any real power to change the outcome, there would be no charges at all. As for a pardon, don't you have to have a conviction prior to a presidential or gubernatorial pardon? You can't have preemptive pardons issued prior to a lawful finding of guilt. Too much temptation for crooked pols to just pardon all their henchmen in advance. I think the Bergdahl courtmartial will drag on well through mid-2016. I think it will be fodder for criticism of Obama and especially Hitlery. By summer of 2016, it won't matter as much because then a convicted Bergdahl is still damaging and a pardoned Bergdahl hurts Obola and Hitlery even worse.
What was Nixon convicted of when Ford pardoned him?
Pardoning him was the same as convicting him in the court of public opinion. Having praised Bergdahl for his service, Obama pardoning him prior to a court martial would politicize the whole process. And Bergdahl would be assumed guilty as charged (or worse) and Obama would literally be eating his own words after treating Bergdahl as a war hero for his spectacular desertion and consorting with the enemy. Even the libmedia won't cover up for a Bergdahl pardon. I think it would be a sort of breaking point for them.
But they could cover for a commutation of sentence after a plea agreement. His time in captivity could be used to justify commuting his prison sentence with the rest of the sentence left standing. That could even be done in January 2017.
I think the biggest objections are to the idea of paying him $350K and getting an honorable discharge when he is probably responsible for causing the deaths of 4-6 soldiers dispatched to find him. There is still the open question of whether he directly collaborated with his captors and revealed sensitive info about convoy operations and security that helped the Taliban make their attacks on American troops more deadly. I've read many times accusations from soldiers that he served with that the effectiveness of these attacks increased sharply shortly after his capture. They think he collaborated actively. But your proposed plea deal would satisfy enough people that it might be workable. And Obama is about as likely to pardon him as to promote him to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. IOW, no way.
The money and the discharge will be to keep the military less unhappy. There is a lack of proof about the alleged 4-6 deaths. There is a lot to consider for the prosecution. The government has spent some time and effort to make Bowe look wonderful on paper. I believe it likely that the military violated his Miranda rights early on. He was promoted and given a Second Good Conduct Award in 2014. It’s stuff that screws with a prosecution. The Washington Times reported March 25, 2015: Mr. Solis warned that this would be difficult to prove in court and likely would not influence the legal proceedings. “How do you prove he wouldn’t have been killed anyways?” he said. “It’s too subjective an assertion for a prosecutor to try and prove to the court.” Military.com reported March 25, 2015, "The question isn't whether he did it, the question is whether you can prove it," said Gary Solis, a retired colonel who served 26 years in the Marines – 15 of them as a Judge Advocate General. Solis said he expected Bergdahl's legal team would press for a plea bargain and "the government might be willing to go for a deal." "I think there's enough evidence there to convict for desertion," Solis said, referring to e-mails Bergdahl sent his parents and other evidence that Bergdahl packed up and left behind his gear before leaving his post. Should the case go to a court martial, Solis said he expected Fidell to ask for a trial by a military judge rather than risk Bergdahl going before a jury. Solis also said he was fairly certain that Bergdahl would lose his back pay, estimated at about $300,000. Military.com reported on June 4, 2014: From his reading of the facts, "there's enough evidence of intent" to support a charge under Article 86, but not enough to charge him under Article 85 for desertion. Article 85 requires proof of an intent to remain away permanently, and "desertion would be just about impossible to prove" in the case of Bergdahl, Solis said. Article 86 states in part that "any member of the armed forces who, without authority absents himself or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty at which he is required to be at the time prescribed, shall be punished as a court-martial may direct." Upon conviction, the maximum punishment for a violation of Article 86 would be dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, reduction to the lowest enlisted grade, and confinement for one year. Both Solis and Michael Noone, a Catholic University law professor and military law specialist, said any potential case against Bergdahl could be compromised by how he has been treated since his release. Much like civilians, service members under suspicion must be told of their rights to counsel and to remain silent. "They should have told him that when he got on the helicopter," Solis said. “Gary D. Solis is an author and retired Professor of Law of the United States Military Academy, where he directed West Point’s Law of War program for six years. He was a 2007 Library of Congress scholar in residence. He is a retired U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel, having twice served in Vietnam, where he was a company commander.” From the introductory note of “The Law of Armed Conflict,” by Gary D. Solis. I think he won't have to commute the prison sentence if they sentence Bergdahl to 5 years and give him 5 years credit for time in captivity.
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#3. To: Fred Mertz, redleghunter (#1)
Is this the guy whose parents appeared with the president for some sort of announcement months ago?
#12. To: TooConservative, redleghunter (#3)
This is a blow to 0buma on that foolish trade of Bergdahl for the 5 Taliban leaders, who are almost off detention in Qatar and ready to go home to shoot at Americans again. No way this White House didn't try to stop this courtmartial.
#20. To: Liberator, TooConservative, redleghunter (#12)
We all know Bergdahl will merely be pardoned in 2016, most likely after having served a few months -- if that.
#27. To: nolu chan, Liberator, TooConservative, CZ82 (#20)
A legal point of contention may be whether he intended to remain away permanently, or was he taking a dump or communing with Gaia when captured, said capture preventing his return from an unauthorized absence.
#33. To: redleghunter, Liberator, TooConservative, CZ82 (#27)
I think article 99 is there in the charge sheet for a reason.
#34. To: nolu chan, redleghunter (#33)
#46. To: TooConservative, nolu chan, redleghunter (#34)
As for a pardon, don't you have to have a conviction prior to a presidential or gubernatorial pardon?
#55. To: SOSO (#46)
What was Nixon convicted of when Ford pardoned him?
#60. To: TooConservative, SOSO (#55)
Even the libmedia won't cover up for a Bergdahl pardon. I think it would be a sort of breaking point for them.
#62. To: nolu chan (#60)
But they could cover for a commutation of sentence after a plea agreement. His time in captivity could be used to justify commuting his prison sentence with the rest of the sentence left standing.
#69. To: TooConservative (#62)
I think the biggest objections are to the idea of paying him $350K and getting an honorable discharge when he is probably responsible for causing the deaths of 4-6 soldiers dispatched to find him.
I think the biggest objections are to the idea of paying him $350K and getting an honorable discharge when he is probably responsible for causing the deaths of 4-6 soldiers dispatched to find him.
Other reports noted that members of the military died and several more were wounded during missions to rescue Sgt. Bergdahl, when it was believed that he had wandered off from his post.
"Bowe Bergdahl deserted during a time of war, and his fellow Americans lost their lives searching for him," Sgt. Matt Vierkant, who was in Bergdahl's unit, told CNN.
Should a case be pursued, the most likely charge would be Absence Without Leave under Article 86 of the UCMJ, said Gary Solis, a retired Marine colonel and former Judge Advocate General.
And Obama is about as likely to pardon him as to promote him to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. IOW, no way.
Replies to Comment # 69.
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